Subject: Some pics to share! Location: IN USA July 16, 2017 6:15 pm Hello Bug Peeps! I thought I’d share some really lovely shots I got of some awesome specimens! You are probably the only people who will appreciate them, heh. The first two are spiders but the final one of a beetle was the best shot of all! … The second is a much better photo of a really pretty spider hanging out on my bathroom wall in Indiana USA. I looked it up and it is a spitting spider and spits a mixture of webbing and venom on its victims, so basically what Spiderman does but also poison which I think is very clever. I like the spots on the legs. I keep my fingers crossed that it will catch and eat the stupid fruit flies that keep getting in my garbage- they fly at my eyes and are annoying. … Signature: KLeigh

Spitting Spider

Dear KLeigh, Thanks for sending in your image of a Spitting Spider in the family Scytodidae. Alas, we cannot currently link to BugGuide, but we did find some images on Spiderz Rule! where it states: “It is called the ‘Spitting Spider’ because it spits a poisonous sticky substance over its prey. Its body size ranges between 3 and 6 mm. They catch their prey by spitting a fluid that immobilizes it by congealing on contact into a venomous and sticky mass. They can be observed swaying from side to side, in order to cover the prey in a crisscrossed “Z” pattern; each of two pores in the chelicerae emits half of the pattern. The spider usually strikes from a distance of 10-20mm and the whole attack sequence is over in a little under 1/700th of second. It is a slow hunter and seems to use special long hearing hairs on its legs to locate its prey. It hunts at night and moves slowly towards its prey. When it is about 10mm away, it stops and carefully measures the distance with one front leg. Then it squeezes the back of its body together and spits two poisonous silk threads in one six-hundredth of a second, in a zigzag manner over the victim. The prey is immediately immobilized. If the prey is big, the spider spits several times. “

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Subject: Spitting Spider Location: Simpsonville, SC April 1, 2017 11:59 am Hello, I found this fascinating little arachnid in the corner of the door frame of an exterior door. I am certain it is a spitting spider of the genus Scytodes, but I have been unable to ascertain the species. I checked Bugguide.net, but neither of the two species they have identified seem to be a great match. I went ahead and remove one of the spiders from the nest to take some pictures, but it was safely returned, hopefully unharmed. Let me know if you need any other picture from other angles to help identify this critter. I took plenty. Thank you for your help, Signature: A Biology Student

Spitting Spider

Dear Biology Student, We do not have the necessary skills to identify this Spitting Spider in the genus Scytodes to the species level, but perhaps one of our readers will be able to provide assistance. We agree with your genus identification and the images you provided document the BugGuide identification information: “Spitting spiders have 6 eyes and are slow moving. They are usually fairly easy to identify by their large round cephalothorax and their long, thin legs.” The eye pattern appears to match. While BugGuide only pictures two species, the site does state: “There is only one genus, Scytodes. There are six species known in the US. Five of them are dorothea, fusca, thoracica, univittata, zapatana.” Your individual is not too dissimilar from this individual pictured on BugGuide but only identified to the genus level. According to Spiders.Us: “In North America, this species is almost exclusively found in and around homes and other buildings. They are mainly nocturnal, so finding them in cellars, closets, and dark corners is commonplace. They can sometimes be found outdoors under rocks or within leaf litter in close proximity to homes, as well.” It is also worth noting that Spiders.Us disagrees with BugGuide with the number of North American species in stating: “In addition to Scytodes thoracica, there are at least eight other described species of ‘Spitting Spider’ that have been collected in the United States; some may be endemic to the southern states, others may be synanthropic and were introduced from Central and South America via commerce.”

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Subject: Spider Location: Mesa, AZ March 28, 2015 12:09 am Hello, I found this spider in my apartment in AZ. Not sure what it is since I grew up in IL and don’t think I’ve seen this kind before. Any help would be appreciated! 🙂 Signature: Brittany

Possibly Spitting Spider

Dear Brittany, We believe we have correctly identified your Spider, and if our identification is correct, this will represent a new category on our site. This looks like a Spitting Spider in the family Scytodidae which we found on BugGuide, and where it states: “Spitting spiders have 6 eyes and are slow moving. They are usually fairly easy to identify by their large round cephalothorax and their long, thin legs.”